Monday, March 30, 2015

NOTE: Yesterday was the 16th
anniversary of our SOUND BITES Ministry™.It was begun on March 29, 1999, in memory of our son, Dustin, who had
died on March 29, 1998. While today's quote is a repeat from over a year ago,
it speaks to what I believe SOUND BITES is all about.On this 16th
anniversary, as I have done each year, I invite you to share how SOUND BITES
has ministered to you and how you have used SOUND BITES to minister to others.
Since SOUND BITES is now available via e-mail, blog, Facebook, and Twitter, you
are welcome to respond through any of those means.Blessings…Rev. Dave WilkinsonSOUND BITES Ministry™

THINK ABOUT SUCH THINGS

To
make my mind a home for Jesus, I deliberately fill my mind with the kinds of
things God says are important.Paul puts
it like this: "Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever
is noble, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable -- if
anything is excellent or praiseworthy -- think about such things."
(Philippians 4:8)

We
often want to be able to hear guidance from God about important decisions such
as whom to marry or what job to take.But we also want to reserve the right to feed our minds on whatever junk
comes along.Whatever repeatedly enters
the mind occupies the mind, eventually shapes the mind, and will ultimately
express itself in what you do and who you become.The events we attend, the material we read
(or don't), the music we listen to, the images we watch, the conversations we
hold, the daydreams we entertain -- these are shaping our minds.And ultimately they make our minds receptive
or deaf toward the still small voice of God.

Friday, March 27, 2015

"Jesus
asks the disciples, 'Who do you say I am?'" (Matthew 16:15)We
observe that the teaching of our Lord Himself, in which there is no
imperfection, is not given in that cut-and-dried, fool-proof, systematic
fashion we might have expected or desired.He wrote no book.We have only
reported sayings, most of them uttered in answer to questions, shaped in some
degree by their context.And when we
have collected them all, we cannot reduce them to a system.He preaches but He does not lecture.He uses paradox, proverb, exaggeration,
parable, irony, even (I mean no irreverence) the 'wisecrack.'He utters maxims, which, like popular
proverbs, if rigorously taken, may seem to contradict one another.His teaching therefore, cannot be grasped by
the intellect alone, cannot be 'got up' as if it were a 'subject'.If we try to do that with it, we shall find
Him the most elusive of teachers.He
will not be, in the way we want, 'pinned down.'The attempt is (again I mean no irreverence) like trying to bottle a
sunbeam."--
C. S. Lewis#3624

Thursday, March 26, 2015

In
Romans 7, St. Paul
says, "The law is spiritual." What does that mean?If the law were physical, then it could be
satisfied by works, but since it is spiritual, no one can satisfy it unless
everything he does springs from the depths of the heart.But no one can give such a heart except the
Spirit of God, who makes the person be like the law, so that he actually
conceives a heartfelt longing for the law and henceforward does everything, not
through fear or coercion, but from a free heart.--
Martin Luther (1483-1546) in Preface to the Letter of St. Paul to the Romans#3623

Wednesday, March 25, 2015

If
you have a Sunday school image of Jesus as mousy and passive, [the Book of]
Revelation will help you forget it.The
risen Christ appears to John in chapter 1, and John faints.Jesus declares, "Do not be afraid, I am the First and the Last.I am the Living One, I was dead, and behold I
am alive forever and ever!And I hold
the keys of death and Hades.Write,
therefore, what you have seen." (Revelation 1:17-19)Jesus
proceeds to give instructions for all the churches John is overseeing.He then reveals the throne room of heaven, a
place of awe-inspiring worship. If you allow yourself to picture these scenes,
your private world will shrink and you'll see why this is a King worth
following, even into the mouth of hell.Revelation
is not primarily about Satan or the Antichrist.It's about Jesus Christ, King of a glorious kingdom in which you are
invited, even now, to participate.--
Karen Lee-Thorp in A Compact Guide to the Bible#3622

Tuesday, March 24, 2015

"In
My Father's house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have
told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for
you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you
may be also. And you know the way where I am going." (John 14:2-4)It
was a warm Saturday afternoon.A Carolina breeze was
steadily moving through the long grass and the proud, full branches.I was driving home, back to the little corner
of the world where I grew up.I was en
route to a modest house on a corner lot bordered by pine trees, vegetable
gardens, and neighbors who still bake casseroles for each other.I
was thinking that when I arrive, my dad (most likely atop his newly painted
tractor) will head across the freshly mowed lawn.He'll hug me long and hard until the back
door slams.My mom will reach for me,
smiling, and announce, "I've a fresh pitcher of iced tea.Who's ready for a glass?"…What
really matters is home.This is the
stuff I am made of. This is what is important to me.We
are all on a homeward journey.God
patiently plans our routes and polices our perils.He watches us maneuver through detours and
treacherous places.He even sees us make
an occasional wrong turn then keep going anyway.But
always He waits.Long ago He paved the
way and marked the direction for us to come to Him.He prepared a place of rest that is beyond
the reaches of our imaginations - a welcome center built by His own hand.--
Janet Pachal in The Good
Road#3621

Monday, March 23, 2015

"Jesus answered, 'I am
the way and the truth and the life.'" (John 14:6a NIV)In
the two thousand years since the birth of Christ, men and women in all parts of
the world have found that the key to the present and to the future has been
centering their lives in Christ. They have sought to understand His unique life
and death and discover what it means to follow Him in the circumstances of
their lives.In
each of the twenty centuries since Christ's birth, people of faith have
recorded rich and colorful images of Christ and His impact on their lives.
Consider that the Epistle of Barnabus in the second century described Christ as
the true and eternal milk and honey by which we will be fed and given
understanding. John Climacus in the seventh century called Christ the Sun whose
light we can see as we become accustomed to the light through meekness and humility...
Catherine of Siena envisions Christ as the true bridge between humanity and God
so that we might pass over the bitterness of the world and reach life. Each of
these persons was seeking to express in simple, understandable language how his
or her life had been reshaped and given new meaning through the presence of the
living Christ. The language and the images are strikingly different, but each
adds nuances of lived meaning as these persons try to capture the difference
that Christ has made for them.-- Janice T. Grana, adapted
from 2000 Years Since Bethlehem#3620

Friday, March 13, 2015

"He has made us
competent as ministers of a new covenant -- not of the letter but of the
Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life."(2 Corinthians 3:6 NIV)

A recent study by the Barna
Group found that the number one challenge to helping people grow spiritually is
that most people equate spiritual maturity with trying hard to follow the rules
in the Bible.No wonder people also said
they find themselves unmotivated to pursue spiritual growth.If I think God’s aim is to produce rule
followers, spiritual growth will always be an obligation rather than a desire
of my heart.

“Rule-keeping does not
naturally evolve into living by faith,” Paul wrote, “but only perpetuates
itself in more and more rule-keeping.”In other words, it only results in a rule-keeping, desire-smothering,
Bible reading, emotion-controlling, self-righteousperson who is not like me.In the end, I cannot follow God if I don’t
trust that He really has my best interests at heart.The letter kills, but the
Spirit gives life.There is an enormous
difference between following rules and following Jesus, because I can follow
rules without cultivating the right heart.-- John Ortberg in The Me I Want to Be

Thursday, March 12, 2015

Just
allow people to see Jesus in you -- to see how you pray, to see how you lead a
pure life, to see how you deal with your family, to see how much peace there is
in your family. Then you can look straight into their eyes and say "This
is the way." You speak from life, you speak from experience.-- Mother Teresa#3618

Wednesday, March 11, 2015

"I can do all things through Christ who
strengthens me." (Philippians 4:13)Limitations
force us to yield, to abandon ourselves to our creator, God. And when we do,
His creativity flows!-- Joni Eareckson Tada#3617

Tuesday, March 10, 2015

Here is the great truth that, only when we see
things in the light of God, do we see things as they are.It is only when we see things in the light of
God that we see what things are really important, and what things are not.These things that seem vastly important,
things like ambition, and prestige, and money and gain, lose all their value
and importance when they are seen in the light of God.Pleasures and habits and social customs which
seem permissible enough, are seen for the dangerous things they are when they
are seen in the light of God.Things which
seem evil, hardship, toil, discipline, unpopularity, even persecution, are seen
in their glory when they are seen in the light of God.-- William Barclay (1907-1978) in The Revelation
of John (Vol. II)#3616

Monday, March 9, 2015

Jesus said, "I am the light of
the world. Whoever follows Me will never walk in darkness, but will have the
light of life." (John 8:12)In 1986, there was a woman by the
name of Rose Crawford who had been blind for 50 years. Why? Because no one had
told her that for twenty years her particular medical condition could be
corrected by surgery. All she had to do was have someone tell her and then make
the intelligent decision to do something about her blindness. When the bandages
were removed from her eyes she wept with joy. Where there had been darkness,
now there was light. She was not unwise, she simply had not known. Once she was
told what she could and ought to do, she made the most of her opportunity.So it is with Jesus -- the Light of
the World. Follow Him and there is light. Refuse the opportunity and remain in
darkness.--
adapted from Rev. V. Neil Wyrick in a sermon titled "Out of Tune, Out of
Sync -- What to Do?"#3615

Thursday, March 5, 2015

Some
of the most obvious considerations, when thinking about the supremacy of
Christ, are the claims He made about Himself.Other teachers said they were telling the truth.Christ said, "I ... am the truth"
(John 14:6).Other teachers asked people
to follow their teachings.Christ asked
people to follow Him.More than twenty
times in the Gospels Jesus spoke about the need to follow Him.The other great leaders taught people to
worship God… Jesus accepted the worship of Thomas (John 20:28).Jesus made statements that clearly implied
that He was God, and some of His hearers were so scandalized by these remarks
that twice they wanted to stone Him for blasphemy (John 8:54-59; 10:30, 31).Seven
"I am" statements appear in John's Gospel, showing that Christ
claimed to be the source of eternal life.He said, "I am the bread of life" (6:35); "I am the light
of the world" (8:12); "I am the gate" (10:7, 9); "I am the
good shepherd" (10:11); "I am the resurrection and the life"
(11:25); "I am the way and the truth and the life" (14:6); "I am
the true vine" (15:1).Leon Morris
reminds us that "in each case the Greek form of 'I am' is
emphatic."Each saying includes the
personal pronoun "I.""There is no need to include the personal pronoun unless emphasis
is required."Morris concludes that
to Jewish ears, the words I am
"aroused associations of the divine."These and other statements of Christ make us agree with J. T. Seamands'
statement that the uniqueness of Christ "is not something we concede to Christ, but something He confronts us with."--
Ajith Fernando in The Christian's Attitude Toward World Religions#3614

Wednesday, March 4, 2015

The
Christian faith is really not ours till we live by it, till it is the focus of
our thoughts, words, and actions, till it goes with us into every place, sits
uppermost on every occasion, and forms and governs our hopes and fears, our
cares and pleasures.--
adapted from William Law (1686-1761)#3613

Tuesday, March 3, 2015

What
is faith? Is it belief? Like flipping a light switch from the off to the on
position, flipping our inner ideology from disbelief to belief, from no to yes? …
Faith, saving faith, is more than a flip of the switch. Faith requires more
than intellectual assent to a proposition or set of statements about God.
Instead, faith is an active trust, an orientation of our lives toward One we
have met and find trustworthy. Faith is less about the details about what we
believe, more about transformation of our very lives.-- from Disciplines: A
Book of Daily Devotions 2015#3612

Monday, March 2, 2015

Jesus
said, "I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of
this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of
the world is My flesh.” (John 6:51 NRSV)Jesus
Christ is the living bread of life -- bread for sustenance, bread for daily use.
He is not cake for special occasions.-- Unknown#3611

Search This Blog

Welcome to SOUND BITES

By David T. Wilkinson

Over the years I have collected quotes that pertain to the Christian faith and life in general. As I have read or studied what others have written, I have been struck by the profound thought that is captured in their few short words. These quotes have been shared through SOUND BITES Ministry™ , a five-day-a-week inspirational e-mail ministry, and now are shared through this blog as well. You will also find us on Facebook by clicking SOUND BITES Ministry on Facebook.

Visit the photo website of David T. Wilkinson Photography which celebrates God's creation. Click on the image below...

Get Connected

How SOUND BITES came to be

During Lent 1999 God prompted me to think about a new idea as to how I might share these thoughts with a broader audience. At the same time, our family was experiencing the first anniversary of the death of our son, Dustin, who died at the age of sixteen from a brain tumor. So, beginning on that anniversary, March 29, 1999 we began an e-mail ministry in memory of Dustin that we call SOUND BITES: Something to chew on that is good for the soul™. Five days a week, Monday through Friday, I share one of these quotes with subscribers. Hopefully recipients find something of faith and life to think about and chew on, which feeds their soul and helps them grow spiritually. Since its inception, over 4,000 daily quotes have been sent out. The subscriber list continues to grow numerically and geographically with subscribers in every state in the U.S., and also in Canada, Mexico, and numerous other countries around the world. Currently more than 2000 subscribers receive SOUND BITES directly via e-mail and many others second hand. Now through this blog we expand our outreach even more. To read comments on the 13th anniversary of SOUND BITES Ministry™, click 13th Anniversary Comments.